Practice Makes Perfect!

28th November - 2nd December 2016

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Following on from the success of the inaugural Practice Week last year, students and staff at DCGS followed it up with a bigger and better second round over this last week. The aim of Practice Week is to remind us all of the power of a little regular commitment, with the goal over the five days being to spend 20 minutes a day working on a new or existing skill.

Students from across the school got involved, and the variety of talents being displayed (or developed!) was huge. In the lower school, students increased their fluency in languages, or improved their table tennis, rugby, gymnastics and basketball, and their piano, drumming, guitar and ukelele. Some students taught themselves magic tricks, cooking, clay modelling and how to draw manga - Japanese cartoons.

Further up the school, practice was related more directly to students' studies. Some put the extra effort into learning their lines for A Winter's Tale, the upcoming Senior Play, while others went further with their revision, taking the opprtunity to pin down elusive skills and understanding. More students practised their instruments, rounding it off with some excellent recordings for their controlled assessments run by Miss Gee and a professional recording artist.

The week was busy for staff as well. Miss Kremer, who developed and organises Practice Week, lead the charge, stepping out of her comfort zone to learn to build and operate her own robot. The rest of the team followed suit and, amongst others: Mr Atkinson took the lead in assemblies throughout the week to hone his public speaking; Mr Burn decided to try his hand at juggling; Mr Colquhoun learned to meditate (not code for getting an extra 20 minutes in bed each day, we are assured); and Mr Davies began practising a new piece on the piano, Nocturne no. 13 in C minor by Chopin.

It was a productive week for everyone who took part - and worthwhile reminder to us all of the importance of regular practice. We look forward to seeing what challenges everyone engages with in 2017.